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CYANOBACTERIA, CYANOBACTERIA TOXINS & USEPA DRINKING WATER TREATMENT RESEARCH TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM
Citation:
DUGAN, N., T. F. SPETH, AND D. WILLIAMS. CYANOBACTERIA, CYANOBACTERIA TOXINS & USEPA DRINKING WATER TREATMENT RESEARCH TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM. Presented at AIDIS VII Regional conference, Chicago, IL, March 28 - 31, 2006.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public
Description:
The 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SWDA) require the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to establish a list of unregulated microbiological and chemical contaminants to aid in priority-setting for the Agency's drinking water program. This list, known as the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) is the primary source from which future regulated drinking water contaminants will be selected. In order for a contaminant to be selected for regulation, several requirements must be met. Namely, there must be sufficient data documenting adverse health effects associated with exposure to the contaminant, a suitable analytical method must be available, it must occur in the environment on a national scale at significant concentrations, and there must be cost-effective techniques to treat the contaminated water. Cyanobacterial toxins are included in the CCL. As part of the USEPA’s effort to define treatment cost, the USEPA is conducting research evaluating the optimal treatment strategy for cyanobacterial toxins. This presentation will cover USEPA’s research to date on the control of cyanobacterial cells through drinking water treatment, specifically through filtration.